Roundtable

Organized by Merlin Chowkwanyun A couple of weeks ago, I realized that all my Twitter interactions were basically with people in two orbits: “Historian Twitter” (7%) and “NBA Twitter” (90%). Wait, that only adds up to 97%?! Correct. Then there’s #NBAHistorianTwitter, a special nexus of people in both worlds (So I thought: why not do…

Inspired in part by ESPN’s 1999 SportCentury, which in its ranking of the top 100 North American athletes of the twentieth century included only 8 women, we asked contributors to help recognize the important–and often overlooked–contributions of women in sport history. Readers and scholars were asked to provide “top ten” lists of historically significant women…

By Andrew McGregor Recently the University of North Carolina (UNC) cancelled history professor Jay Smith’s class “Big-Time College Sports and the Rights of Athletes, 1956-Present.” The Daily Tar Heel reported that the department was “under pressure from the college to cancel the class to prevent students from learning about the University’s recent scandals.” His colleagues…

Last year, the National Football League’s (NFL) St. Louis Rams packed up and moved to Los Angeles, returning to the Southern California metropolis after twenty years in the Midwest. Two weeks ago, the San Diego Chargers announced they would play the 2017 season in Los Angeles. And just last week, the Oakland Raiders signed papers(pending…

Tonight, the University of Alabama meets Clemson University in the college football playoff championship. It’s a rematch of last year’s game, and the third year of the playoff format. As you prepare for the game, our resident college football historians — Hunter Hampton, Andrew McGregor, and Michael T. Wood — reflect on the legacy and impact of…

The 2016-2017 college basketball season is in full swing. Conference play began this week, signaling the beginning of the “true season” in the minds of many fans. Many of the conferences appear wide open, promising competitive races from Tobacco Road to the Pacific coast. According to the NCAA, over 27 million fans flocked to roundhouses, barns, and arenas…

Last week the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Their victory inspired what’s been reported as the seventh largest gathering in human history in downtown Chicago. Millions of fans flocked to the streets to celebrate what has for generations been a mere fantasy. Millions more watched the World Series as its intense seven games served as a…